Wallingford boasts four pro players
Quick, what’s the baseball capital of Connecticut?
Groton, home of Fitch High and major-league alumni Matt Harvey and Jesse Hahn? Westport, home of yearly state title contender Staples High, Ben Casparius and Chad Knight? Southington, home of several ex-big leaguers? Woodbridge, home of perennial power Amity High? How about Wallingford? Might not be your first choice, but there isn’t a town in Connecticut that has more players in pro baseball right now.
P.J. Higgins recently got his first, long-awaited promotion to the Chicago Cubs. The 2011 Lyman Hall graduate is the face of Wallingford baseball right now, but more could be on the way.
Sal Gozzo, in just his second professional season, jumped up three levels this year to Lehigh Valley, the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate. Zach Hart, a 10th-round draft pick by Cleveland in 2019, is shoving at Low-A Lynchburg in multiple roles out of the bullpen. And Jake MacKenzie, who signed with the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent last summer, is with Low-A Salem.
“I think it’s pretty unusual, four guys from the same town playing pro ball — especially not a crazy big town,” MacKenzie noted.
Hart and Gozzo (along with Gozzo’s twin brother, Paul) were teammates on Sheehan High’s 2015 Class M state title team. They were also teammates on Goose’s Gamers, the AAU team founded by the Gozzos’ father, Mauro, the exbig-leaguer now coaching the independent Gastonia Honey Hunters in their inaugural season.
The Gozzo twins were teammates at Tulane for a year before Paul transferred to UConn for two seasons. He’s now finishing his collegiate career at UC-San Diego, where he’s earning a master’s in accounting and may soon start a job at Ernst & Young.
“Hopefully, he can be my accountant and do my taxes someday,” Sal quipped.
MacKenzie went to high school at Choate, but remembers teaming with the Gozzo brothers and Hart at Moran Middle School — in baseball and basketball.
Higgins, 28, is the elder statesman of the bunch. His father, Duke, coached MacKenzie for a couple of years with the CT Bombers. All of the players have worked out together at times during the off-season.
Small town, plenty of connections.
“Any recognition we can get for our town is always a good thing,” Hart said. “And there’s always good baseball talent, as we can see, coming through Wallingford. So, very happy about that.”
Higgins is the toast of the town right now. On May 19, after six years of toiling in the Cubs’ farm system, he finally got his first call-up to Chicago. Higgins is serving as Wilson Contreras’s backup but has made three starts since his promotion.
“It’s fantastic, especially seeing someone from our hometown doing it,” MacKenzie noted. “He’s been at it for a while, so it was nice to see him finally get up through the system. He’s earned it.”
“Obviously,” Gozzo added, “that’s where we all want to be.”
Gozzo, 23, is only one step away right now in Triple-A. Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Phillies in 2019, he spent that summer in Rookie Ball, hitting .186. Like all minor-leaguers, his season was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Gozzo spent most of his time at his buddies’ apartment in New Orleans trying to stay in shape.
He stayed back in extended spring training at the end of camp this year, but a day later was sent to Double-A Reading and has yo-yoed a couple of times between Reading and Lehigh Valley, which have both been down position players. All 24 of Gozzo’s at-bats this season have been with the IronPigs. He’s playing second base, third base and outfield (“wherever they need me, I’ll be there”), though he’s still searching for his first Triple-A hit.
“Not the best at the plate,” he admitted, “but I think I’m adjusting as I go and just learning. These guys know how to pitch. And they can tell just by one swing, ‘I can throw him this pitch, and this will get him out.’ Sometimes, they know how you can get yourself out. But, I’m feeling comfortable, just trying to provide good AB’s for the team and do whatever I can to help out here.”